


Nuclear Heart

by StephieBat



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Supernatural Elements, gwevin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-05-24 21:38:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14962671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephieBat/pseuds/StephieBat
Summary: When Gwen's grip on her powers begins to slip as well as her hold on humanity, she's taken off assignment as an official plumber to ensure the safety of her comrades, as well as her own. The last Osmosian in all the star systems, a conning space pirate and ruthless techlord, soon becomes her only hope for control. Futuristic AU.





	1. Chapter 1

**Note:** This is an AU, though many elements of this story can be found in the show. Gwen and Ben are both official and respected Plumbers working off-world and are approaching the age of 21. Kevin is a 22-year-old Osmosian techlord who is known for his cunning and sarcastic wit, but most infamously for his ability to escape from what would otherwise be a "legal situation." Think Han Solo with powers.

 **Pairings:** As always, Gwevin. Maybe Ben/Julie or Ben/Elena in later chapters.

* * *

"I'm taking you off assignment, Gwen."

The severity of his words don't phase her at first. She's too distracted by the wavering mana signatures circulating around her. Completely overtaken by temptation, she allows them to flow through her like a clear and rapid current. The visceral rush washes up against the edges of her psyche, drowning her in rich sensations that nearly cause her to levitate involuntarily.

"What?" She questions in a light breath, acknowledging that she's just been spoken to, yet not releasing herself enough to allow his repeated statement to grasp her attention fully.

She relents, however, when the pressure of Ben's hands suddenly burden her shoulders. She's in contact with the physical plane again, anchored by him. His eyes, deeply crinkled around the edges with concern, search her face with desperation. "Where are you right now? Are you even with me?"

"I am," she admits in her struggle to ignore the raw potential of the universe. "Now. I was just... distracted."

"Right." The weight of his grip remains on top of her and his eyes flash in concern. "You've been distant lately. If something's bothering you, you can tell me, y'know."

Reaching up to lay her palms against the tops of his hands in reassurance, she offers a light smile. "I know. Nothing's wrong, Ben. My powers are just... acting up."

And suddenly, her vision goes white hot and it sears her mind.

Her lips contort into a grimace as the world gives a violent lurch that knocks her off her feet, tossing her sideways across the conference room, the brilliance of magenta manna streaking after her. A throb of pain resonates from her temples, splintering through her skull as Ben cries out to her in alarm. She's vaguely aware of a slight pressure in her back that's slowly coiling around her spine, squeezing each fissure as it spirals downwards. It doesn't concern her, however, what it could be. She's floating above it all until a mix of plumber badges and the official emblem of the space station she and Ben are currently posted at come into view.

" _All vitals stable._ "

" _Energy readings leveled out. Stable._ "

" _Gwen? Gwen, how do you_ — _"_

" _Patience, Tennyson. She'll need time to regain her strength. Don't smother her just yet._ "

The mix of voices swim in her head. When she attempts to sit up, she's slammed back into the ground by a pain so intense, it blinds her.

Once she's conscious of the world again, she finds herself surrounded by the pristine white theme of the space station's medical bay. She nearly winces at the brightness of it, but it's the excruciating ache in her bones that causes her to commit to the action instead. Gritting her teeth, she tries to ease herself back down as the sharp sensation spreads and ebs across her abdomen.

This part of the med bay housed patients in critical need of immediate care. Every other time she'd been admitted to this particular wing, it had been on visiting terms in solemn attempts to comfort and cheer up her fellow, agonized plumbers.

"What's going on?" She moans, words hoarse as they scrape over her dry tongue.

"Easy," a light tone warns. "You haven't properly healed."

"What happened?" She presses further, jaw clenching at the blazing pain. Her mind is a muddled mess of anesthetics and numbed history.

"No one's sure," a new voice chimes in. It's Ben. He sounds far off, as if his voice is carrying down a long corridor rather than from her bedside. "I asked you to stay after the conference so we could discuss something. You were having trouble focusing, then shot at me before launching yourself across the room. It's like you...  _exploded_ with manna. I've never seen you do that before."

A swift and ruthless bout of sickness makes her stomach flip. Her fingers curl into the sheets. "I shot at you? With a manna blast?"

"I don't think you realized what you were doing, Gwen."

"I don't understand how... I mean, I feel normal." Had another wave of nausea not passed over her in that instant, her words might have held more conviction. "Well, a little woozy, but it'll pass."

"Miss Tennyson," one of the aids timidly interjected from the foot of her bed. "You are drained. Recovery time is being enforced for you to gather your energy back."

She could hardly believe it, let alone acknowledge the notion. Mandatory bed rest? Everyone at the space station knew how hard she had worked for her position, how determined she was to end all the evils the plumbers were to face when deployed for their mission. She was supposed to be suiting up, preparing to leave!

She scarcely voiced her dread. "How... How long?"

"For now, two days." There was a sternness to Ben's answer that made Gwen doubt the duration of her recovery period. "That depends on if you check out or not. Forget about the next mission, okay? You're not going to be in the clear for it."

"You're supporting this?" Sitting up, she bares her teeth against the pain. She can feel the blood rushing to her head, coloring her cheeks with anger. "The plumbers need me, Ben! I can't be held back because of a few bruises!"

"But that's just it!" Bracing the bedside safety railing, he moves to get in her face. "Your injuries are self inflicted. You lost control, Gwen. Who's to say you won't slip up while we're away? You could get me or another plumber killed, but most of all, you're endangering yourself!"

"I... I..." the ferocity of her resolve shrank back. "I know. You're right. But how do you expect to keep up with Charmcaster if I'm not with you? She's a sorceress, Ben, not another alien you can easily beat down."

"We'll manage." Easing up on his grip on the railing, he backs away in an effort to cool down.

"Wait," she blinks hard, attempting to rid the reminiscent haze from her eyes. Everything becomes lucid. "What did you say to me? When you made me stay behind in the conference room, something about the assignment?"

"Gwen... I just can't have you out on missions anymore, okay? Not with your powers going haywire. We're giving you two days to improve, but without a teacher or another Anodite to help you, I'm not sure how long this is going to take. It took you years to get your spells down. Who's to say how long this phase will last?"

Reclining against the pillows, Gwen crosses her arms in a tiff. "You're unbelievable."

"It's not just me!" Throwing up his arms in exasperation, he causes a healer to squeak in surprise and nearly trip over a chord from a vital reading monitor. "Stop acting like I'm the bad guy, alright! The higher-ups put me to this. We're all worried about you, Gwen. You have to understand that."

And as he goes on to report to his post and leave with the rest of their team for a mission that's no longer hers, she tries her best to do just that. But it's hard when you're left to suffer on your own.

* * *

**A/N:**  Since I don't typically do AUs, feedback would be greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

"Mana, all the energy of the worlds, is unfortunately extremely unpredictable."

As if she didn't know that firsthand. Propping herself upright on her slightly ridiculous incline of fluffy pillows, Gwen attempts to look directly at the man sitting at her bedside without showing a hint of distaste. As much as she respects Doctor Nova's work and medical contributions to the universe, the way he would guardedly dictate his speech around her got her blood roiling.

His eyes, black and beady like a pug's, shrouded by bushy, greying brows and bunched skin, flickered between her and the holographic readout in his hands. "We traced a slight surge in the energy levels contained within the foundation around the time your blackout occurred. That may have been due to structural malfunctions within the vicinity, which can be manually traced and verified in time. What we can't know for sure, however, is if it was caused by a sudden flux in mana intake, a disruption in the universal chi, an explosive discharge on your part, subconscious spellcasting, or other mystical causes." Furrowing his brows into a single, hairy line, Nova gives her an imploring look. "Tell me, Gwendolyn, do you have full reign of your powers. Is this your true form?"

She drops his gaze, hair pooling like blood in her lap as she looks down. Her cheeks flush out all color and she bites the insides of her mouth. "No. I refuse to destroy this body for the sake of fully manifesting my powers."

"But Miss Gwendolyn!" Utterly astonished, Nova nearly loses his grip on his piece of medical tech. Gwen can't tell if he's about to let it fall to the floor or throw it at a wall. "You are nearly one and twenty! Surely you know that a mere lifeform of your design cannot withstand—"

"I know what I put at risk, Doctor Nova," she retorts, the pigment of her eyes glistening sharply like finely cut emeralds. "You need not elaborate on what I am already well aware."

"What you mean to say," Ben interjects, rising from his seat across the room as his restraint finally slips, "is that she's  _destroying herself_ by living like this?"

"You stay out of this, Ben!"

"Gwendolyn," the doctor begins in a tone so stiff, it demands both cousins attention, "is a skilled sorceress, an Anodite of the highest caliber, even in her current form. As a hybrid, human flesh and bone simply cannot bear such power. It is too much."

"I'm  _not_ destroying my body, okay?! I already get enough grief from Verdona, and I only see her once every year if she feels up to harassing me about it!" Crossing her arms, she leans back and allows herself to sag into the downy cases piled behind her. She's seething in self-righteous fury, wishing that at least one of the extra pillows she had asked for could smother her from the situation.

She's tired. Exhausted of the way everyone has been acting around her since her explosive incident, sick of not being able to leave the restricted area of the medical bay. She's completely beat despite the fact that she's been on bed rest over the past few days.

Some oxygen must have been deprived, she figures, from sinking herself on that bed. Before she can even begin to comprehend what had taken place, Ben is shaking her by the shoulders, repeatedly telling her to calm down. There are nurses rushing through the room. Monitors are wailing. The urgency around her, the wild and scared look in all their eyes says it all. She doesn't have to ask what the pandemonium is all about.

She's losing control.

* * *

 

 **A/N:** As always, feedback would be greatly appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

"Kevin Levin? But he's a conning space pirate! The same greedy scoundrel who pulled off the biggest intergalactic scandal in the casino cosmos!" Completely exasperated, Ben begins to pace along Gwen's bedside. "And he's bribed his way out of all the charges they could peg him with! I can't trust him with you!"

With a scathing retort fresh on her lips, someone beat Gwen to the words.

"You forgot 'greatest techlord to ever strike fear in the mighty and heroic Ben Tennyson.' I'm pretty well known for that, too."

The doorway frames a tall, well built silhouette of a man who has his left shoulder pressed up against the structure in a nonchalant stance.  _Kevin_ , Gwen guesses.

While Ben had been off gaining more experience than her out in the field, he'd had a few run-ins with the notorious con. His devious rep occasionally came up in her designated mission briefings, but always in passing. When she'd asked Ben about his past encounters with the man, he only ever replied with a slew of crude profanity under his breath before stalking off somewhere.

With the way Ben has his teeth bared, she figures it has to be him.

"Tcht,  _techlord_?" Ben scoffs, curling his fingers against his palms. "You're hardly worth any religious recognition."

With an easy roll of his shoulders, Kevin stands upright and makes his way across the room towards the seething brunet. From her position on the medical cot, Gwen gathers the thin bedding in her hands and looks him over. Strong jaw line, muscle gripping sleeves, confident lilt, shaggy hair... No wonder he was trouble. "Not like I asked for your faith."

When he grinned, she couldn't help it. She was charmed.

"Maybe not."

His eyes are riveted in her direction and their pigmentation nearly causes her to bite her tongue. They're as pitch as space.

"But," she continues as a flush of color paints her cheeks, "if you want to stay here with a clean slate, you need  _mine_."

For a moment, his gaze doesn't waver from hers. Gone is the self-assured smirk that had given his features such a strong roughish appeal. A look of slight wonderment betrays himself to her, his lips barely parted, breath slightly bated as if he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to do so. Ben's irked mood is palpable, but for some reason, she chooses to ignore that.

Without dropping her line of sight, he rounds the foot of the bed and comes to the side opposite of Ben. She wonders if she seems regal. He won't stop looking at her like that.

The essence of his life force nestles down into her lungs, pulses the blood in her veins. The intimacy of it thrills her.

Suddenly, there's a calmness that hushes over her in his presence, nearly touching. His body heat is practically radiating. For a moment, she feels content.

"Shouldn't be too hard," he says with a quirk of a brow. She's struck by how handsome his features become with a grin on his face to compliment them.

"How…"

Her skin is burning. Immediately, she realizes he has his right hand on her upper arm and wonders how she didn't notice the weight of it before… wonders if his powers are of a fiery nature.

"I'm an Osmosian."

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for staying with me. A review is worth a thousand faves.


	4. Chapter 4

The singed remains of Nova's brows nearly shoot up into his receding hairline. Above all the pills, potions, and dripping syringes, this man, a dark blemish on the face of civilized society, is what may cure her. "Astonishing."

"I take energy," the Osmosian tells her in a low tone, as if his words were only hers to hear, "but I also give back. Can you feel that?"

"I can," she breaths, hardly able to believe or make sense of what he's doing to her. For once in the past few months of her life, she feels in control. "I— I feel better." There's a look in his eyes that seems pained. "Are… you okay?" she asks with a bit of alarm in her tone. "Is this hurting you?"

"No," he nearly scoffs at the idea. He drops her concerned gaze and looks distractedly around the room, dark eyes eventually resting on her vital readout.  _Stable_.

* * *

It's after visiting hours, but since Ben is a blood relative and one of the highest ranking and respected Plumbers aboard, he apparently has every right to see her at two-something in the morning to firmly tell her that her only chance of taking back control of her life is being booted into uncharted space.

Already irritated at being woken so abruptly, Gwen's temples start to throb. Exasperation pinches the back of her neck, so she carefully counts to five before finally allowing herself to think.

_What the hell?_

"You... You dense  _dweeb_!" Gwen can't help but indignantly yell. She nearly makes to move off the medical cot when he begins to snort at her insult. Releasing her grip on the white sheets, she crosses her arms instead. "He can help me! His powers can teach me how to control my own and you want to flush him out of the nearest air lock?"

"Of course I do! He has a vendetta against me, Gwen, and now it involves you!"

Her fingers curl against her arms because, no, no way in hell is he going  _there._ "Stop it."

Setting his shoulders back, Ben narrows his eyes at her. "What did you just—"

"Stop. It."

She watches with blazing eyes as her sharp enunciation cuts through his resolve.

"Gwen," his face softens as his lips form around an apology. "I don't—"

It could have been an explanation, too, but she doesn't want to hear it. "And  _I don't_ care. Get some sleep. You'll need it for your mission."

Hot, unshed tears blur her line of sight. She doesn't bother watching him leave the room.

* * *

The moment Gwen decides that Kevin-space-scoundrel-Levin is not as terrible as the rumors that precede him make him out to be is when he agrees to sneak her out of the med bay. No completely awful person would offer such a sweet escape, Gwen reasons, let alone accompany her after.

Well, no one without ulterior motives, anyways.

Even without the aid of her powers, she knows how to kill a man several ways with her bare hands, so despite what he may be capable of, she isn't too worried when she's completely alone and unmonitored with him in a distant corridor.

"Its only been a week, but I feel like I was holed up in that room for ages."

At their leisurely pace, the two end up lightly brushing their arms against each other, her shoulder occasionally pressing into the buttery leather encasing his upper arm. She dismissively mumbles some apology in regards to still recovering but doesn't miss the way he smirks as she ducks her head in embarrassment. From their brief collisions, she's every bit aware of the strength in his finely corded arms under that leather jacket. "Thanks for breaking me out."

He throws a glance her way, regarding her momentarily, silently, until the blood once again rises high in her cheeks.

"S'what I'm good at."

There's a dull rumble in her ears that obscures Kevin's words. As she turns to face him and ask him to speak louder, wonders at what's causing the racket, her vision blurs and she desperately clutches at the sudden roaring in her head.

The shock of magenta fades to rose tinted double vision and Gwen squeezes her eyelids shut, grimacing at the overwhelming sense of baking nausea that follows. Her forehead, cold with a sudden sweat, is pressed against something hard but she can't spare a thought as to what.

She feels as if she's stranded in space, quickly losing air in a malfunctioning escape pod that's drifting through the cosmos, but she can see the search lights of a rescue ship pierce through the cracked viewport of her vessel. She's weak, lungs burning and writhing in her breast, but holds on to that sliver of hope, that blinding glimpse of a savior.

When the roaring calms to a shrill ringing, she's aware of her labored breath and a low, soothing voice.

She's no longer drifting. All too harshly, gravity brings her to her knees and thrusts her into a shoulder to lean on.

 _Kevin_ , Gwen immediately thinks. Warmth bleeds into her as a pair of callous hands rub up and down her arms, anchoring her to reality. She rests in his embrace until she's able to make sense of his words.

"—up just yet. You just went all Anodite on me. Your body needs time to—"

" _What_?" She nearly chokes, snapping her head up to face him. Immediately, she buries her face back in his shoulder and wonders if he'd be all that disgusted with her if she got sick on the front of his shirt.

"Easy, easy," he murmurs as the brief grip on her upper arms relaxes into another soothing up and down motion. She knows he's an Osmosian, that he has the ability to take and give power, but she can't help but think that his touch is what a Pyronite's might feel like.

For the first time since her erratic episodes started up, she feels as if her body is trying to rid itself of her. Her throat burns with bile and anxiety, but she bares her teeth against it and grits out what she hadn't ever dared to ask. "What's happening to me?"

* * *

**A/N:** As always, thanks for staying with me. A review is worth a thousand faves.


	5. Chapter 5

"I was in someone's head."

When Gwen's legs finally stop completely giving out from beneath her, the pair head straight to her room, shuffling down the barren corridors as Kevin lets her lean into him.

She tries to apologize for the mess, having neglected her chores while in recovery, but Kevin simply shakes his head and sits them down on her unkempt bed. The comforters are hardly any more luxurious than the starched white medical sheets she'd been in bed with over the past several days, but their plush touch eases her enough to keep her hands from shaking.

Kevin faces her with splayed out legs, elbows propped on denim clad knees, and posture inclined towards her with a slight slouch. "What did you see?" he prompts, his tone a bit too grave, unusually level for someone who had just witnessed a human erratically transform into a full blown Anodite. "Whose head?"

She's too distressed to call him out on it. Her lungs burn as they did for whoever was trapped in that space pod. "I don't know. They were dying, Kevin. Suffocating." Curling one of her sweat slicked palms into a fist, she brings it up to her mouth, knuckles resting on pursed lips as if she doesn't want her next words to be known. "I know what it's like to die."

"Hey," he says suddenly and reaches for her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and drawing it away from her face. His skin is so warm and inviting. The mattress beneath them groans. "It's not your fault."

At his touch, the raw remedy of him tries to soothe over her, attempts to regulate the pressure of her building powers, but her mind keeps racing.

"They had to have been reaching out to me. They wanted me to help, they were dying—"

"Gwen, c'mon," he urges, squeezing her hand tighter. "How do you know that's what you saw?"

She looks at him, blinking twice before asking, "You don't believe me?"

Her grip slackens in his as her heart plummets to her gut, dropping like a block of ice.

"No, no!" he presses. It's the first time since they've met that she sees him flounder for words. "It's not that it's-I mean, you felt this person as if you were embodying them, right? You didn't have any control. Maybe you were overreaching."

Nose wrinkling in distaste, she doesn't bother hiding the incredulity in her voice. "Overreaching?"

"The energy you had when you were in your Anodite form was raw power I hadn't felt in a long time. Not since-" looking away, he settles back into a slumped posture with his elbows against his knees. "You've got a good heart, Gwen. Maybe you were trying to help them without even knowing it. Some people just can't be saved."

"That can't be it. I know that. Why do you think I've made a career out of being a Plumber?"

His lips slide into a smirk. "Dunno. I thought it was just what Tennyson's do."

Getting up from the ledge of bed, Gwen makes her way across the room to her desk. It came with the standard issue room-a shoebox square footage complete with a simple desk, chair, twin bed, and chest of drawers. The surface was cluttered with books. Scooting a stack out of the way, she pulls a tome from under the dust. Kevin can hear its worn leather crack in her hands as she begins to leaf through its yellowed pages.

"This is the first ever spellbook I got my hands on. I was ten." Returning to her spot next to Kevin, she rests the ancient text in her lap as she continues to turn through it. There are faded notes in the margins, Kevin realizes, in a thin arching scrawl that probably belongs to Gwen. It crowds every page. "For the longest time, I didn't even know about my alien bloodline. This was all I had."

"Wait, you're telling me that you really believed in magic? That's what you thought your powers were?" He barks out a laugh, splaying out his palms as he leans back to belly it. "You thought you were magical?"

Her gaze hardens in the face of his mockery. "I am, actually," she tells him plainly.

"Right," he plays along, mirth dancing in his eyes like starlight. "And I thought you were supposed to be the smarter Tennyson. Looks like you're both gullible."

"Then how do you explain this?" she asks with a snap of her fingers. At the crack of the sudden friction, a lone flame instantly ignites the candle on her crowded desk.

He squints his eyes at the dancing light. "Okay, freaky." Turning back to face her, he looks her over again. "But you're an Anodite so it makes sense."

She bites her bottom lip and narrows her eyes at the stubborn man. She has an ancient tome splayed out in front of them, filled with cryptic spells, and he dares to call it made up? Sure, he probably couldn't decipher the runes, but what else did she need to convince him?

Sighing, she snaps the book closed, the action somehow snuffing out the waxing flame. The springs beneath them sag with the motion. "My point is," she huffs, "whether it be magic or my Anodite heritage, I know I can't save everyone with it. Obviously, I have my limitations."

"Gwen," Kevin starts in a sobered tone. There's sweat beading around the redhead's temples again. He doesn't miss the way her hands begin to quake beneath the weight of her precious spellbook. Lifting it from her hands, he lets the pads of his fingers drag over her own with the motion, stilling the tremors. "You shouldn't underestimate your powers," he tells her as he sets it down by their feet.

The faint scent of smoke in the air comes with a crack of manna. He tells himself that he shouldn't be so indulgent, but when her power is hanging in the very air he breathes, the taste of her is so tempting.

"You're the only one here who's telling me to use them." Angling herself toward him, rustling the bedsheets, she extends a wary touch his way. She feels a light scratch of stubble as she cups his jaw with one hand. "How is it you have so much faith in me?"

He swallows hard. The honest answer is that she tastes amazing, but he isn't about to say that. Especially not while she's touching him in her bed.

On her bed, he corrects himself. On top of the covers. There was a difference. "I told you," his throat strains against his answer. "I'm an Osmosian."

"Part Osmosian," Gwen corrects. Her bare knees knock against his as she shifts next to him, other hand coming to rest over his broad chest. "I know a hot blooded, human heart when I feel it."

"Dammit," Kevin curses under his breath. Why did the springs beneath them have to be so squeaky? Bringing a hand to cover hers, he doesn't miss the disappointment in her eyes when he gently pulls her touch away from his chest. "Gwen, there's, uh, something I should probably explain."

"Is it about your powers?" she asks, not quite looking at him.

"Yeah." He gives her hand a squeeze, causing her gaze to collide with his again. "Do you feel that?" he asks her with all the significance of the first time they met. The gravity of the look he's giving her makes her question if she had missed something that fateful day in the med bay.

"When we first met," she begins, eyes darting to the pinkish scar on his chin before reverting back, "I thought you might be part Pyronite. Your skin feels so warm."

He grins at that and leans in toward her. She swears, his touch is on fire. "Not quite."

It might not be heat, then, she concedes. But the air between them feels charged with something.

"Do you know what an Osmosian is, Gwen?"

"Not… entirely," she admits. Ben never allowed Kevin to visit her long enough for them to have much downtime to actually get to know one another. Seeing the con man lay a hand on her always put the Plumber on edge despite the fact that it gave Gwen relief. "I know you can absorb energy and take on materials in combat but..." she lets out a small gasp at his nearness. The air between them is pulsating, throbbing in some vein Gwen has never before explored with a man like him. "I don't believe I reviewed anything over the Osmosian race during my training," she finishes lamely.

"No, I don't 'spose you would." The fringe of his shaggy hair brushes her burning cheeks. Even his words are like kerosene.

They sit like that, with heartlines and heat between them, until it finally clicks for her.

"Oh," is all she can say before angling her head in a way that he could never mistake for not being deliberate. Her lips press fully against his, sliding and parting over each other as she smiles up at him.

"This isn't too much?" she eventually pulls away to ask between short, shallow gasps.

"I can handle whatever you give me, Gwen," he assures, leaning over her in a mess of rumpled sheets.

She pulls him back down to her, kissing him hard as she discovers things about him that she would have never learned throughout her training.

* * *

 **A/N:**  Finally. This has been a long time coming.

If you all still have thoughts on this story, a review is worth a thousand faves. Thank you all for staying with me!


	6. Chapter 6

Nudged out of a satisfying slumber, Kevin blinks up at the piercing gaze of a woman with a blunt black bob. His first thought is that he has no idea who this woman is. From the impressive number of medals pinned to her Plumber's suit, he figures she must be someone important.

"Get dressed," she tells him. Her tone is as stern as her gaze. "Plumber Tennyson will be here within the hour."

"And you are?" Kevin drowsily asks of the woman.

"Vice Admiral Julie Yamamoto. I'm the reason your ship didn't get blasted into space to join the asteroid fields when you first approached my spacecraft, Mr. Levin."

Detangling his fingers from Gwen's hair, whose head was soundly nestled on top of his bare chest, he reached back for the pillow wedged between him and the headboard. "Right," he mutters as he shifts to support the sleeping redhead's neck, sliding out from beneath her as she sinks into the downy pillow.

Straightening up before the captain of the ship, he thanks his lucky stars that he still has his jeans on. Nevermind the blooming hickeys around his neck and the way his hair is probably sticking up at odd ends.

She cocks a single brow at him. "I will dress her. Gather your things and go to your quarters."

It takes him a lot longer than he'd like to admit to find his shirt. He has half the mind to just zip up his leather jacket, tuck his chain and locket underneath, and forget the muscle tee until the Vice Admiral suddenly coughs, presenting it between a pinched, neatly manicured thumb and forefinger as she emerges from Gwen's open closet.

"Uh. Thanks," he tells her as he takes it from her outstretched hand. "Didn't realize it got that far."

"Of course," she sighs. He isn't quite sure which comment she is remarking on. Either way, he doesn't try to keep that bit of conversation going, pointedly scooping up the ankle holster and pocket knife that he had safely deposited on Gwen's desk hours ago.

Amongst the stacks of books and hand-scrawled notes, the cracked corner of a picture frame catches Kevin's eye. Four bright, smiling faces stare back at him. If it's a family photo, Gwen never mentioned the brother. His eyes rove over the cobweb effect in the splintered glass. He can't help but smile when he realizes that Gwen had much shorter hair, even shorter than the Yamamoto chick's, but it doesn't quite reach the corners of his lips when it hits him that he's never once heard her talk about her parents, either.

Before he can offer to carry Gwen back to the med ward himself, Julie once again tells him to show himself out. Gwen's propped against her on the edge of the bed, out cold in a navy sweater dress that hugs her curves. It's a shame, he thinks, that they'll just put her back into one of those boxy medical gowns.

Already, he's thinking of ways to get his hands back on her. It had been innocent enough when Tennyson had their every interaction under strict watch. Interlaced hands and lingering fingers across her jaw was as far as they had gotten before last night.

Now that Kevin had tasted her fully, open-mouthed and wanton, he would have to show greater restraint. Even more dangerous was that Gwen knew just how bad he needed her. She saw him for what he was and she  _knew_.

He needed her how she wanted him-begging, pleading, and  _ravenous_.

Giving a forceful cough into the crook of his elbow, he tears his eyes away from the two women and sees himself out. When the door clicks shut behind him, he's reminded of the fact that he's not a free man here. Armed Plumbers are on the other side to escort him back. Their tech, clearing well above Level 7 from what he can tell, is freshly patched to their weapons. He would know-he notices these kinds of things. No one around the space station had been touting around this stuff before today.

"Get moving," the Tetramand nudges him along. Kevin doesn't miss the way the distinct mold of the new patch digs into his side.

This was arsenal grade tech. Maybe well into the double-digit clearance Level.

Just what the hell had Tennyson gotten them into?

* * *

 **A/N:** Maybe you can guess what I'm building to? Hope the suspense is worth the wait. 

Might possibly move to an M rating depending on future chapters. Hope this doesn't bother anyone too much.

As always, thank you all so much for following along with this story. A review is worth a thousand faves.


	7. Chapter 7

She’s finally granted permission to roam the space station freely. Able bodied and alone, Gwen has scoured every sector of the ship in search of the Osmosian man. Despite the fact that his famed spacecraft-----banged up racing-striped wings, blood red “Kevin Rules” graffiti on the side, and a pair of fuzzy dice at the dash-----didn’t appear to be docked at any of the ports, it was hard to believe that he would just up and leave without telling her. Unless Ben really had floated him out of the nearest airlock.

“Its been five days.” Gwen is nearly begging. “Where is he?”

Handing a clipboard back to her co-pilot, Julie blows a sigh between the thin line of her pressed lips, bangs flying up in her annoyance. “I _told_ you. That’s classified.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, Gwen hardly notices how deep her nails dig into the poly carbon fiber of her Plumber suit. “You’re the only Plumber currently on this space station who has higher security clearance than me but I can tell everyone is hiding something. Every time I ask Helen where Ben is or what happened to Kevin, she just changes the subject!”

“Good,” Julie says dismissively, turning from the redhead as she begins to work on the ship’s controls.

“Plumber Tennyson, ma’am,” Julie’s co-pilot interrupts. “I’m going to have to ask you to step away from the control panel as we prepare-----”

Gwen turns to the man, noting the four spikes protruding from his face, and scoffs. “You’re Helen’s brother, right? I suppose you’re not going to tell me what’s going on, either. All she does is gush about you and your heroics.”

“Er,” he looks over to the vast array of stars beyond the dashboard, hands fidgeting with the clipboard. His knuckles whiten and Gwen wonders if she stares at him long enough, the board might snap in half.

“Okay, no. This is not happening. Junior Admiral Pierce,” Julie demands of her subordinate. “Take over while I escort Plumber Tennyson to the med bay.”

Pierce nods in affirmation and gets to work on the humming controls. Before Gwen can protest, Julie sternly reminds her that it’s time for her daily check-in with Dr. Nova.

“Someone of your rank should know to address my crew with more respect,” Julie admonishes her as the automatic doors to the control cabin hiss shut behind them.

Grudgingly following along at the Vice Admiral’s side, Gwen purses her lips, stewing in silence. Julie was always so controlling. Just when she was starting to get a grip on her life, her saving grace goes missing, Ben’s mission with their Plumber unit lasts longer than expected, and Julie is bossing her around.

“We’re making the jump, aren’t we?” Gwen asks as they round a corner.

“We are,” Julie confirms after a few paces. Glancing at the redhead, she arches a brow. “You noticed? I wasn’t aware you had successfully tested for your pilot’s license.”

Crossing her arms even tighter, snug under her breasts, she hums as she keeps stride. “I can always feel it when we’re about to go into hyperspace. The ship starts to vibrate.”

“Interesting,” Julie comments. “After all my years of piloting, I know this ship _very_ well, but even I can’t tell that it’s preparing for the jump unless I give the order for it.”

Gwen gives a laugh, though it sounds hollow in the space between them. “Maybe they really should have given me a license.”

“One day,” Julie placates with a small smile. They both come to a stop at the transporter platform that Julie calls up with the press of a button. “When you actually manage to get a spacecraft off the ground.”

The corner of Gwen’s mouth quirks up at the jibe. “Maybe I just need a better teacher.”

“Oh?” Julie outright laughs at this. “Who would that be? A crook like Levin?”

Gwen offers her own challenging smile. “It’s not like Ben can ever keep up with him. I bet he’d give you a good chase, too.”

“Doubtful.” There’s a gleam to Julie’s eyes that suggests she would take that bet if the chance ever presented itself. “But you’re right. His skills as a pilot were the stuff of rumors back when I was testing for my own license. And you two seem… close. I’m sure he could teach you well.”

When the transporter reaches them, the dark and heavy metallic doors before them yawn open. Gwen steps onto the platform, turning to the other woman expectantly, but Julie remains on the other side of the divide. She can’t quite bring herself to look at her directly. Her cheeks are too red for that.

“I’m glad you’re doing better,” Julie tells her. “He’ll be back soon.”

Before Gwen can acknowledge what she’s just said, the transporter doors cut her off as they shudder close. The platform drags her to the lower level, down to the bottom of the vessel, and she wonders where among the stars they’ll land.

* * *

 

**A/N:** I always thought Julie and Gwen’s attempts at girl talk were so weird. Hence this chapter. There are a few Easter eggs throughout this chapter that pay homage to the AF series. Did you catch them? Hopefully that makes up for the short length ^^;

If you’re savvy with military titles and rankings, then it’s probably obvious that I have no idea what I’m doing in regards to that. I hope the fact that this is all fictional and in space can help you overlook this. Vice Admiral Yomamoto also just sounds really badass.

As always, a comment is worth a thousand faves. Let me know what you’re thinking!

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on ff.net.


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